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Legal Briefings

Apr 7

HIPAA Update: Request for Information on Security Practices

On April 6, 2022, the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a “Request for Information”...

Mar 30

Proposed Legislation May Have Nursing Homes Dealing with COVID-19 for Years to Come

In response to a reported 15,000 nursing home deaths attributed to COVID-19 in New York, Democratic lawmakers have proposed a change to...

Jan 12

Expanded Medicaid Coverage in New York – Mental Health Services

In December, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed two new bills into law which will greatly expand coverage under the...

Jan 11

Making Pandemic Changes Permanent – Electronic Remote Notary Services

On May 19, 2020, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.7, authorizing a procedure by which notaries could take...

Jan 11

No Surprises Act: Good Faith Estimate Requirement

As outlined in our previous Legal Briefing (see link: No Surprises Act Compliance (lawpf.com)) the federal No Surprises Act (the “Act”)...

Jan 4

Quality Assurance Committees Take Note — Identify the Speaker or Lose the Privilege

New York State and federal law both contain confidentiality provisions protecting quality assurance committee materials from disclosure...

Dec 23, 2021

No Surprises Act Compliance

The federal No Surprises Act (the “Act”) was enacted in 2020 in order to protect patients from surprise medical bills. The Act creates...

Dec 15, 2021

Status of Religious Exemptions in New York State

As detailed in previous legal briefings, New York State’s Department of Health has enacted regulations mandating most healthcare...

Nov 12, 2021

Stark (Self Referral) Physician Compensation Revisions

The federal physician self-referral (“Stark”) law prohibits a physician from referring a patient to an entity with which the physician...

Nov 8, 2021

Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Update

Anti-mandate advocates were successful in federal court over the weekend. On Saturday, a Federal appeals court in Louisiana temporarily...

Sep 29, 2021

New York Vaccination Mandate Update

As detailed in our previous Legal Briefing (see link: Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines (lawpf.com)), the New York State Department of Health...

Sep 28, 2021

NYS Guide for Nursing Home Discharges and Transfers

When a nursing home discharges or transfers a resident, state and federal legal requirements mandate that the facility follow a detailed...

Jun 23, 2021

OSHA and ETS Updated Guidance for Healthcare Facilities and Non-Healthcare Facilities

On June 21, 2021, the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”)...

Apr 28, 2021

Gestational Surrogacy is Now Legal in New York

“Gestational surrogacy” is a type of surrogacy where the surrogate does not provide the egg for fertilization but instead carries the...

Apr 19, 2021

Repeal of COVID-19 Health Care Immunity

On March 24, 2021, New York lawmakers repealed significant protections from COVID-19 related liability for nursing facilities, hospitals...

Mar 16, 2021

Effect of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on the Healthcare Marketplace

On March 11, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law. The $1.9 trillion coronavirus...

Mar 15, 2021

HIPAA Penalties Suspended for Eligible COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling Apps

In an announcement made by the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the penalties under...

Mar 11, 2021

Health Information Blocking: Do I Have to Worry About It?

Congress in 2016 passed the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”). Nestled within the 312-page law is a section prohibiting “information...

Feb 1, 2021

Proposed Reforms to “Modernize” the Office of Professional Medical Conduct

Governor Cuomo’s recently released State of the State Plan and 2022 Health budget contain many proposals that impact health care professiona

Dec 16, 2020

HIPAA, not HIPPA: Common Misunderstandings and Clarifications of the Law

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an outpouring of information to the general public, much of it inaccurate. Healthcare related law has